Kate Hairopoulos

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Austin Box, get ready.

The redshirt freshman looks – probably – like the guy Oklahoma will turn to at middle linebacker after Ryan Reynolds suffered a season-ending torn right anterior cruciate ligament in Saturday's Red River loss to Texas.

Reynolds was the backbone and brains of the Sooners defense, so it's not like OU – down to No. 4 from No. 1 in the AP poll after the defeat – just plugs the hole and moves on.

"He makes a difference," coach Bob Stoops said Sunday of Reynolds. "These other guys will have to step it up and take more responsibility."

Box was slated to start the season at weakside linebacker, but he underwent arthroscopic surgery in August to repair torn cartilage in his left knee.

In the interim, Travis Lewis emerged as a force and took over the position.

As a backup, Box hasn't gotten a ton of game repetitions. He also will have to adjust to middle linebacker. The spot is a leadership position, responsible for adjusting alignments and making calls.

Defensive coordinator Brent Venables wasn't ready Sunday to name Box the starter for Saturday's game against No. 16 Kansas – practices this week will be the determining factor. Backup linebackers Brandon Crow and Mike Balogun will also be in the mix. Venables could also elect to move Lewis to the middle.

"If somebody can do it," Venables said of Box, "I would say he can."

Gamblin' man: As he's wont to do – and in this case, probably needed to – Texas Tech coach Mike Leach went for it on fourth down on a key fourth-quarter play in Tech's 37-31 overtime win over Nebraska.

On fourth-and-5 from Tech's 36, No. 7 Tech tried to draw NU offsides with a hard count. Didn't work. But QB Graham Harrell found Michael Crabtree for a 47-yard completion, setting up a go-ahead score.

"Crabtree is our go-to guy," Harrell said. "I knew he would get open."

It never stops: Baylor finally kissed its 13-game Big 12 losing streak goodbye by beating Iowa State. Now it's on to a road game against one of the hottest teams in the league, No. 8 Oklahoma State.

"We're still fighting for respectability and credibility," coach Art Briles said, "and this is a chance to earn some."

Briefly: By any standard, Texas defensive tackle Roy Miller is large man. But even he was impressed by the size of the OU offensive linemen."Those guys are huge, man," Miller said. "Those are the sorts of guys you see, and you walk on the other side of the street." ... How's this for a Thursday treat? TCU hosts No. 9 BYU. The Cougars are the highest-ranked team to play at TCU since 1993, when No. 3 Texas A&M won, 59-3.

Staff writers Chuck Carlton, Brandon George, Bill Nichols and Bobbi Roquemore contributed to this report.